Bryant McKinnie has had a lot of ups and downs in his football career since graduating from Woodbury High School in 1997.

But this Sunday night it will all be worth it as the 11th-year offensive tackle will play in football’s biggest game, Super Bowl XLVII.

“It was a long journey,” he said of finally making it to the Super Bowl. “I was just patient and waited my turn, and I finally got my turn.”

Originally a defensive tackle, McKinnie started his college career at Lackawanna Junior College (Scranton, Pa.). After only starting to play organized football as a junior in high school, McKinnie put on extra weight while in Scranton and made the transition to the offensive line — and his career took off.

He played in the junior college all-star bowl game as a freshman and went on to be named an All-American. He transferred to the University of Miami in 1999, and after redshirting for a year, he went on to be an All-American the next two seasons and won the Jim Parker Award (best college offensive lineman) and Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) in 2001.

As the seventh-overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Minnesota Vikings, McKinnie came into the NFL with high expectations. He held out half his rookie season but started every game for the Vikings from 2003-07 — though during his time in Minnesota he was involved in several off-the-field controversies, including a pair of arrests on minor charges.

“I feel like it’s come together on a pretty positive note,” McKinnie said of the roller coaster that is his career. “I keep looking forward to playing on the third and going out here and putting together a great performance.”

After nine seasons with the Vikings, McKinnie was released following the resolution of the NFL lockout in August of 2011. Three weeks later, he signed with the Baltimore Ravens and he has looked more comfortable than he ever did in Minnesota.

His time on the field for the Ravens has followed the same path as the rest of his career. After starting every game last season in his first year with the team, he didn’t start a single game in the regular season this year after nearly leaving the team when the Ravens wanted to restructure the last year on his contract.

But once Baltimore reached the postseason, he found himself at the top of the depth chart at left tackle. In order to make room for him in the lineup, Michael Ohrer was moved from left tackle to right tackle and Kelechi Osemele moved from right tackle to left guard.

“With the shuffle that went on, and two guys changing positions and one guy coming in that hasn’t played extensively all year ... Is that the ideal situation? Probably not,” said Ravens starting center Matt Birk. “But I think with the kind of guys that we have, the kind of players that we have and the kind of people that they are, their willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team — whatever is best for the team — I think that’s why we have been able to have some success.”

During the playoffs, the Ravens have only given up four sacks in three games.

“I think it’s a pretty solid group that we have up there right now,” said Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. “Bryant’s fresh and playing quick and moving well. And obviously with his stature out there, he’s a big strong guy, I think that allowed us (to make the changes to the offensive line). It gives us five really good talents up there and they’ve been playing well together.”

There were plenty of distractions along the way for the Ravens, and the festivities that surround the Super Bowl will do nothing but add to them.

They have done an excellent job of not letting anything stop them to this point, now they just have to finish the job. Just like McKinnie.

“You have to know what you’re here for, you have to go out there and do your job,” McKinnie said. “At the end of the day, that’s what you are getting paid to do, so you just have to stay focused.”